Formula One teams have elected to close a loophole in the sport’s in-season testing regulations to ensure that competitors will not gain an advantage from testing new parts during ‘filming days’.
Last month, Ferrari angered a number of its rivals when it elected to run its ‘blown diffuser’ system during a day of filming at its Fiorano test track.
This led to calls for the rules on in-season testing to be clarified, with Mercedes having also exploited the loophole earlier in the season.
However, Autosport has revealed that teams will now be banned from running new parts when filming, with immediate effect.
“I personally did not feel there was any ambiguity, but others argued that there was,” McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh told Autosport “But that is pressure, and when people are under pressure they try and take a different view.
“It is now clear that, if you are doing a demo run, then you must use components that have been raced before – and it has to be a legitimate demo run.”
